Nine Months Part 3. BEVERLY BARTON

      Her eyelids drooped. She yawned. Jared kissed her forehead.

      “Come on, Mommy, let me put you to bed before you fall asleep here on the couch.” He retrieved his cane, stood and braced himself, putting most of his weight on his uninjured leg. Reaching down, he grasped her hand and pulled her off the sofa. The navy afghan fell to the floor. Stepping over it, she slipped her arm around Jared’s waist.

      Before exiting the living room, Paige picked up her bag from the coffee table and draped it over her shoulder. When they reached the second-floor landing, she halted.

      “I don’t want to be alone,” she told him. “I’d like to stay with you. I need you to hold me. Just hold me.”

      Jared sucked in a chest-tightening breath, pulled her into his arms and held her. His big, strong arms trembled ever so slightly.

      He led her into his bedroom and sat her down on the edge of his bed. “I’ll get you something to sleep in.” He rummaged around in a dresser drawer until he found a pair of cotton flannel pajamas he’d never worn. He couldn’t even remember what he was doing with them. Maybe someone had given them to him as a gift.

      He tossed the green-and-blue plaid top to Paige. “Here, honey, put this on.” He draped the bottoms over his arm and headed toward the bathroom. “Take your time.”

      Fifteen minutes later when he returned, freshly shaved, barefoot and wearing only his flannel pajama bottoms, he found her sitting on top of the covers, her back to the headboard. She held something in her hand. As he neared the bed, he realized that she was looking at some photographs.

      “What have you got there?” He sat down on the edge of the bed, leaned his cane against the nightstand and propelled himself upward to sit beside her.

      Her hands trembled as she held out the pictures, offering them to him. “They’re the sonogram pictures. I’ve been carrying them around in my purse for six weeks.” Guilt overwhelmed her. These were the first pictures of their daughter, and she had selfishly kept them to herself. He had every right to be upset with her for not sharing them with him before tonight.

      “The sonogram pictures of Angela?” he asked.

      He stared at Paige, but his gaze wasn’t the accusatory glare she had dreaded. Instead it was a look of tenderness—a look of love. Did Jared love their baby?

      Jared’s hand shook when he took the pictures from her. He studied each snapshot, turning them in every direction. He blew out a long, deep breath. “Whew! It’s amazing, isn’t it? There she is, not even fully developed inside you, but she’s already a baby girl. Our baby girl.”

      “Oh, Jared.” Paige caressed his cheek. “I’m sorry that I haven’t already shown you these pictures. I had no right to keep them from you. It’s just that I—I—”

      “It’s all right, honey. You’re showing them to me now.”

      After looking at the fuzzy black-and-white pictures of his daughter for quite some time, Jared finally laid the sonogram photographs in a neat little stack on the nightstand, then turned and pulled Paige into his arms. She quivered with soft, silent sobs as she melted against him, allowing her body to dissolve into his. He held her, gently soothing her.

      Jared loves our baby. Jared loves our baby. She repeated the words over and over until they became a litany. If Jared could love Angela, he could love Angela’s mother, couldn’t he? It wasn’t that Jared was incapable of love, it was simply that he had no idea what love was. He probably didn’t realize how deep and profound his feelings for their child were.

      “Jared?”

      “Hmm-mmm?” He kissed her cheek and nuzzled her ear.

      “Thank you.”

      “For what, honey?”

      “For caring about me and Angela.” Closing her eyes, she sighed.

      Jared held her in his arms until she fell asleep, then he eased her under the covers and pulled her close to him again. Didn’t she know, he wondered, that he couldn’t help caring about her and Angela? It wasn’t that he wanted to care so damn much, he just couldn’t help himself. Paige Summers had to be the easiest person in the world to— To what? To want? To need? To care about?

      And Angela. The precious little girl he and Paige had created one wild, reckless night. Oh, he cared about his daughter, all right. He couldn’t even begin to describe the way he felt about his child. She was a part of him. Blood of his blood. Bone of his bone. But she was also a part of Paige. Beautiful, smart, funny, endearing, adorable Paige. Being Paige’s child made Angela all the more special.

      Why don’t you admit it? he asked himself. You love your little girl! Maybe you’ve never loved another soul as long as you’ve lived, but you love the child growing inside Paige’s body.

      He laid a possessive hand over Paige’s belly. In the silent darkness of night, with Paige sleeping in his arms and his daughter fluttering softly against his palm, Jared whispered, “I love you, my little Angela.”

      Chapter Ten

      Jared woke as the first faint glimmer of morning light painted the dark sky with streaks of pink and lavender. Gray shadows of towering trees danced on the windowpanes. Rousing languidly, he scratched his chest and yawned. He felt a warm, sweet weight against his back and remembered that Paige had spent the night.

      Easing over onto his back, he laid his arm across the top of her pillow and glanced at her. How could any one woman be so damned beautiful? Groaning softly, she cuddled to him, lifted her hand and laid it on his stomach. Every muscle in his body tensed. Every nerve tingled with awareness.